


Captured

by DragonLover19



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Rescue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23890990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLover19/pseuds/DragonLover19
Summary: (A small story that I had posted on Tumblr and wanted to see the full story here. So, here it is.)Hat Kid gets captured by the crime boss Empress. How will she escape? And will anyone notice her missing?
Relationships: Hat Kid & Snatcher (A Hat in Time)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 159





	1. Taken

“HOLD HER DOWN! HOLD HER—!”

“ _ **OW!**_ SHE BIT ME!”

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE! JUST KEEP YOUR HOLD ON HER!”

“AAAAHHH! SHE’S GOT MY EARS! SHE’S GOT ME BY THE EARS!”

Hat Kid struggled with all her might, fighting against the restraints of her captors. She was putting up a good fight, good as any when it took several cats to grab her and still struggle moving her somewhere.

“STOP SCREAMING AND FOCUS ON—”

“ _ **MY TAIL! SHE’S BITING OFF MY TAIL!**_ ”

Another cat went down with a swift punch to the face, and two more went down with a solid kick.

_This would be a lot easier with my umbrella!_ Hat Kid thought, swinging another punch. _I guess taking the Conductor’s offer in self-defense was a good idea after all!_

More cats kept coming, surrounding Hat Kid from all sides, jumping on her and hanging onto her limbs in tight grips. She could feel that she was reaching her limit and needed to retreat. _Fast_.

“DON’T ROUGH HER UP TOO BAD! THE BOSS WANTS HER ALIVE!”

Well it was good to know that they didn’t want her _dead_. But she still didn’t feel like getting captured today. Suddenly, her mouth was covered with a white cloth.

“I GOT THE CHLOROFORM ON HER!”

Chloroform? What was chloroform?! Hat Kid struggled more, feeling very heavy as the odd smell entered her senses. Despite wanting to continue the fight, Hat Kid’s body slowly succumbed and everything went black.

* * *

She didn’t know how long she had been out for, but she jolted awake when cold water touched her skin. Correction. She jolted awake when someone _**dunked ICE COLD WATER ALL OVER HER!**_

“I said _splash her face_ , not dunk her whole body you idiots!” A voice hissed as Hat Kid sat up, disoriented.

“Eek! Sorry boss!”

“And what did I say about roughing her up?!”

“S-She was giving us a hard time! It took a lot more of us than we—HURK!”

“EXCUSES! All you’re giving me are excuses! When I told you to do something, _you are to follow through with it with no exceptions!_ ” 

Hat Kid winced as she heard a small body slam against something hard, following with a small puff of an explosion. Something she had grown used to hearing on this planet.

“… Well, at least you idiots managed to do _something_ right.” The voice sighed.

Hat Kid blinked, moving her hands to rub the water away from her eyes. That’s when she realized that her hands were chained up. Hat Kid blinked, looking at her chained hands and struggled to get out of her bindings.

“Ha ha ha. Oh what a pitifully amusing sight.” The voice spoke up again, their tone filled with amusement. “Our little special package thinks that she can she can escape from her chains.” Several voices of hushed laughter echoed in the darkness, and Hat Kid was suddenly aware of the cage she was in.

“What’s going on?!” She yelled, standing up as far as could before the chains held her down.

“Oh, and she’s got a feisty spirit. Good.” The voice, the one which Hat Kid assumed was in charge spoke up again. “I like it when captives still have some fighting spirit left in them.”

“Hey! I asked you a question! What’s going on here?! Where am I?!” Hat Kid moved closer to the bars of her cage, barely reaching them with her chained hands only going so far. “Why did you kidnap me?! Who are you?!”

“Tsk tsk. What a rude little child.” The voice cooed in a cold tone, sending shivers up Hat Kid’s spine. “Then again we dealt with ruder customers before.”

Hat Kid struggled looking into the dark to find the voice, trying to see who was speaking to her. “… Who are you?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified, as well as most of your other questions my dear.” The voice hummed playfully. “But I can tell you this.”

Footsteps echoed in the dark, and a tall lean figure stepped into the light. Hat Kid gazed up at them. The figure was a cat. A tall cat, with a white/grey body and darker grey around her head, hands, and feet. She wore red clothing over her shoulders, tall thin ears, and a scar over her right eye. Those eyes which bore into Hat Kid with a power that made the young alien shudder.

“You are going to be one of the highest paying side job in all my life. Though truth be told, I was expecting… more.” The cat said, pulling out a familiar object.

“HEY! That’s my hat!”

“So it is.” The cat twirled the hat around. “And it’s such a nice hat too~” She purred, clawing the top hat’s edges. The claws were making Hat Kid nervous. “But sadly, our customer wants everything given to them on their arrival. Including this lovely piece of fabric.” The cat sighed, tossing the hat to a small cat who took it away somewhere. “Pity. It would make a fine scratching piece for my claws.”

Her eyes landed on Hat Kid, and the young alien suddenly felt vulnerable and helpless.

“But for now, it’s best that you make yourself comfortable young lady.” The cat leaned down, her eyes never leaving Hat Kid’s, making the young girl back away and trip over. “Because you’re going to stay here and wait for our customer to pick you up. And don’t think about escaping. _I’ve got eyes everywhere_.”


	2. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of blood and child abuse in this chapter

_Days._

It’s been _pecking_ **days** since the kid left.

Normally, Snatcher wouldn’t mind the peace and quiet when the kid wasn’t around bothering him, but this wasn’t Subcon Forest. This was the kid’s spaceship, her _literal_ home away from home. The kid was usually gone for a while before coming back with another Time Piece.

The ship felt oddly… _empty_ without its little captain. And, ( _notthathewouldadmititto_ ** _ANYONE_** ), Snatcher found it very unsettling how quiet this place had gotten without the kid running around doing whatever she does. The doors didn’t open and close, there was no annoying voice signaling her return, no small burl running to him and phasing through him because he didn’t want a pecking hug.

No nothing.

Snatcher frowned, dog-earing the current page he was reading and tossed the book away. In a blink he teleported into the main room of the ship, gazing around it once and irritably found no sign of the top hatted kid in any of the usual spots she would usually sleep on if she was too tired to get to her bed. Though Snatcher would have figured she wasn’t in this part of the ship since the TV was off.

It had been off since the kid left.

Huffing, Snatcher stuck his head in the kitchen. The Cooking Cat wasn’t there. Kind of good for him since he didn’t want any company right now. He was already irritated enough with the kid as he was for making him look for her. Still finding no sign of her, he decided to check the attic next, flipping the little robot over along the way.

Snatcher checked nearly every part of the ship, turning things over and poking his head in things that everyone knew normal kids couldn’t get into. But then again the kid _wasn’t_ just a normal kid, so who knew? Apparently he did after confirming that she was not in the roach hole, and there was a _slllllliiiight_ chance that he was going to give the kid a piece of his mind once he found her.

Never mind how long she had been gone! Snatcher was not in a good mood with what the kid was putting him through right now!

Eventually he made it to the lowest area of the ship after throwing a fit in the upper area, and found an interesting new place he hadn’t seen before below the lab ( _why does a kid have a lab?_ ) that led to some sort of storage area filled with boxes and creates.

_And a telescope._

* * *

Everything.

_Hurt._

“Stay. _IN THERE!_ ” Hat Kid cried out in pain as she was tossed back in the cage, covered in new scraps and cuts from another failed escape attempt. She weakly sat up as the door slammed shut.

“How many times do you need to be reminded that escaping here is fruitless?” Hat Kid glared at the cat, who she now knew from the whispers of her followers was called Empress. “You’re lucky my client wants you alive.” The Empress hissed before turning to one of the lackeys cowering behind her. “And YOU! This is the tenth time she’s escaped under your watch!”

“W-We’re sorry! W-We tried our bes—GAK!” The lackey that spoke out was swatted away by the Empress, bursting in a cloud instantly.

Hat Kid felt bad for the smaller cats. She had seen how the Empress treated them and couldn’t help but pity them.

“Excuses! That’s all I get from you pitiful furballs!” The Empress growled, taking her anger out on two more lackeys before composing herself. “You better have been worth all the trouble you’ve caused. I don’t know why someone would be interested in _you_ , but you certainly gained someone’s attention.”

Hat Kid stuck out her tongue, blowing a raspberry at the Empress. In a blink, she was pulled towards the bars and given a harsh slap across the face. She fell back, scooting across the floor and held her cheek in pain, feeling a warm liquid run down her face.

“That was only a warning to behave. Next time, I won’t hold anything back.”

With that, Hat Kid was once again left alone in the dark.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she kept them in as best she could, wiping her eyes and finding her hand covered in red when she pulled it away from her cheek.

_Blood._

The Empress drew blood from her.

She stared at her bloody hand in shock. The sudden weight of the danger she was in that she had tried to deny once she failed to escape the first time came crashing down on her.

This wasn’t like all the other times when she faced a mafia boss, movie directors, or even Snatcher. She wasn’t just in some place that she could explore and have fun and make friends. She was in _**danger**_. There was no fun, no new friends, no exploration.

All she ever got in this place was pain and misery.

Tears rolled down her face, but she didn’t try to wipe them away. Instead she let them fall, which turned into full out crying and brawling her eyes out. She curled into a little ball, crying in pain and fear as the situation finally settled in her mind.

“Hey! Shut up in there prisoner!” A cat guard appeared from the darkness, slamming their paw on the bars. “We can hear you in the next room!”

“Yeah! Shut up! No one’s going to hear you!”

Hearing that only made her cry more.

“Come on! Stop crying like a baby!”

“I can’t believe anyone would have interests in you! You’re just a kid!”

“Yeah! A whiney kid crying for her mama!”

“Aw, _does the wittle kid want her blankly too?_ ”

Laughter rang out from her captors as they laughed at her. Laughed at her misery and the pain she was in as she cried.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to be back in her spaceship, her bed, her pillow fort, in front of her TV.

She wanted her Rumbi, Cooking Cat, her dolls, Grooves, Conductor, pecking Conductor, _anyone_ right now.

She wanted to be safe.

She wanted to stop being in pain.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to go _home._

“Hey wittle baby. Are you saaad~?”

“Does wittle baby want an ice cream~?”

“She probably wants a Band-Aid for her owwie~.”

“Aww~ Poor, poor—”

“ _ **Kid?**_ ”

* * *

Snatcher couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Not in a million years.

But there was the kid, curled up tight in ball inside a cage surrounded by cats with masks over their mouths.

He didn’t think **this** would be what he saw when he finally caught a trace of the kid’s soul, following it to a warehouse far, far away from prying eyes. He originally thought she was at some sort of rave thing or a secret party.

But this?

This was not what he thought he would stumble upon.

The kid’s hatless head twitched, looking up at him through the bars with puffy red eyes with tears covering her face. If Snatcher had a heart, it would have twisted on seeing the blood oozing out of the large cuts on her face.

“S-Snatc-cher?”

Her quiet voice sounded nothing like her normally cheery, happy-go-lucky tone, and Snatcher knew this wasn’t some messed up dream he was having.

“I-I-I-Is that a g-g-g-g-” Snatcher turned his eyes back on the cats. That cats that were surrounding the kids cage. The cats who held bats and crowbars. The cats who had been _laughing at the kid. The cats who_ ** _openly mocked and taunted the kid when she was CRYING. THE CATS WHO PLACED HER IN A CAGE AND HURT HER. THE CATS WHO ENJOYED CAUSING HIS KID IN PAIN WHEN IT WAS HIS JOB! THE CATS WHO KIDNAPPED HER, LOCKED HER IN A CAGE, TORMENTING HER, HURTING HER, MOCKING HER!_**

Snatcher’s mane flared. His fingers turned into talons and rows of fangs grew on his frowning scarlet mouth.

“GHOST?!” The cats screamed Snatcher lunged at them with a furious roar and extended claws.

By the time the Empress came back, she didn’t find a single trace left of the warehouse where it once stood.


	3. Comfort

She hadn’t stopped crying.

Not when he attacked the cats, taking them out easily with a few swipes of his claws while trapping those who tried to escape in his thorns. Not when he tore the cage open and scooped her up into his arms. Not when he finished off the last of the cats, holding her to his chest to hide the gruesome sight he laid out. Not when, while still high with anger, he blew up the warehouse with his magic.

She still cried as he carried her back to the forest, clinging to his mane as big fat tears rolled out her eyes and wailing her little heart out. Normally Snatcher would have found someone’s suffering to be funny, but _**THIS**_ certainly _was_ ** _not_** even the _tiniest bit_ humorous in his eyes.

He didn’t know when he got to his tree, or why he chose to curl up on the ground, coiling his body around the kid protectively with his arms wrapped around her small shaking frame, or how long they both stayed there, but it didn’t matter. The kid kept crying.

A Minion or two had poked their head in, but Snatcher had hissed and growled at them, sending a wave of his power to make a clear message that he did not want any visitors. He only wanted to focus on the crying child in his arms, waiting for either his anger to subside or for the kid to finally stop crying.

It would seem to be a long wait as the kid kept crying and his anger didn’t seem to want to go away.

Snatcher thought he might snap if his anger kept going, never minding how the kid seemed to be an endless water tank as she kept crying on him. All he could think about was the warehouse, the cats, and the dark promise he made to make whoever had done this to the kid pay.

After seemingly endless hours, the kid finally cried herself to sleep.

Snatcher was rather grateful for the silence, but his anger was still white hot as he eased himself up and sat down in his chair, keeping the kid close to his chest as he summoned a Minion. He made the order brief and to the point, in no mood for small talk or elaborating why the kid looked like a mess, and sent them off.

Keeping time was fuzzy with his emotions running high, but the Minion came back with what he asked and handed to him without question. A small part of his felt bad waking the kid up, but it was overwhelmed by his other emotions as he set to work patching the kid up, dealing with her wounds and getting rid of her messy ruined clothes for a cleaner set.

He had to keep himself from snapping when he saw the big deep purple spots covering her pale skin. She clonked out after he finished with the last of the more serious wounds, burying her face deep in his chest as her breathing hitched in her sleep. He let her be, slinking deep in his chair but not once ever relaxing.

* * *

He hadn’t let her out of his sight for a week.

The kid had stopped crying after a few days, with only a few sniffles here and there, but she was far from being back to her old whole self. And Snatcher didn’t want to risk the kid disappearing on him again anytime soon.

Not that the kid seemed to want to leave Snatcher’s side. She clung to him like a gnat and refused to let go. Snatcher just bared it, keeping the kid in his grip against his chest while trying to keep his anger under control. Though it was hard to do so as any time he looked down at the kid, his anger came back like a tidal wave seeing her broken form and the mop of hair that was usually covered by a top hat.

It was odd doing his usual duties with a kid clung to his chest, but he somehow made do with it and none of the Minions batted their only eye at the sight of the normally fearsome leader holding a broken child protectively like she was made out of glass. They made a few trips to her spaceship, getting her food and what not, but Snatcher never once let his sight leave the kid.

It didn’t help that the kid would flinch and hide her face against his chest every time the chef cat came in view. Snatcher did not have fun explaining the few details he had to her, though the cat was very understanding and kept her distance.

Days passed before she let up on her grip, though Snatcher still hung around to be sure she was healing. He didn’t need to watch her constantly anymore as Cooking Cat took over most of the duty now. The kid was still scared of the orange tabby, but thankfully she didn’t run or hide anymore.

But even as the kid healed and started to smile again, Snatcher could still feel his anger boiling under his false grin.

* * *

It was near the end of the fourth month that Snatcher felt it was safe enough to leave the kid.

After a quick check to be sure that she was sleeping, he made a beeline to the kitchen, snatching up the surprised cat by the scruff, and teleporting to his home. It took amazing amounts of strength inside him not to burst with anger as he talked with the cat, getting the info that he needed and who exactly to look for. He thanked her for her cooperation before sending her back to the ship and taking off.

Nyakuza Metro.

The place was bright, crowded, and too much for Snatcher’s liking. There wasn’t much shadow for him to hide in, so disgusted, he took the form of a short shout cat. It clearly didn’t stir up any suspicion as he walked down the streets, and not once did any feline bat an eye at him as he made his way to his destination.

He stopped just outside the store, spotting the large cat at the counter, nearly losing his disguise as he saw her twirling a familiar top hat in her claws. The sign said closed, but that didn’t stop Snatcher from fazing through the glass, his eyes dead set on the feline.

Their eyes met and quicker than Snatcher had seen any living being react, she took out a giant hammer, pointing it at him. It took him a moment to realize it wasn’t a hammer, but a rocket launcher, but he hardly blinked an eye as he growled, losing his disguise and towered over the cat.

There was a beat of silence between them, eyeing each other carefully.

And in a split second, Snatcher finally snapped.

* * *

“ _ **GOOOOD MOOOORRRRRRNINNNG!**_ ”

Hat Kid yawned as she sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. “morning.”

“ **Sheesh, turn down the enthusiasm kid. No need to be so energetic.** ”

She smiled a bit as she turned her head to look at Snatcher, finding the ghost laying on her pillow pile with a new thick book. The title read _Léčivé Srdce_ , though she didn’t understand what it meant. Not wanting to focus on it, she pushed the covers aside and slid out of bed and flung herself at Snatcher.

The ghost let out a grunt, shooting her a glare but did nothing to remove her as she smiled up at him. “What’cha reading?”

“ **Just an old dusty book. Nothing you would be interested in reading.** ”

Hat Kid crawled her way up Snatcher’s chest, stopping just shy of the book’s spine. “What’s it about?”

“ **Mmmph. Adventure, sloppy details, a horrible amount of googly heart shaped eyes.** ” Hat Kid couldn’t help herself from giggling. “ **And some murder mystery that gets forgotten after two chapters. And it’s the only** _ **good**_ **part of the story!** ” He lifted the book to grin down at her. “ **Five pons that it’s the protagonist’s love interest who’s the killer.** ”

“Deal!” Hat Kid chirped, snuggling her chin against his chest. She felt him flinch and caught sight of him cringing a bit, but it was gone before she could get a glance at it better. She didn’t have time to focus on it as she was suddenly scooped up in one hand and tossed up and down. Fits of laughter escaped as she was in the air for a few seconds before being caught by the hand and tossed up again.

“ **You seem to be in high spirits today kid. Got anything planned for today?** ”

“Cookie and I are going to see Grooves and Conductor today!” Hat Kid giggled as she landed back in the hand, grabbing Snatcher’s thumb and looked at the ghost with bright eyes. “I haven’t seen them in a while and Cookie said that since I’ve been stuck on the ship for a long time now, it’s a great excuse to stretch my legs!”

She kicked one leg out to prove her point, which Snatcher chuckled and dropped her into the pillow pile. She let out a small eep as she sunk into the pillows, popping her head out and blowing a raspberry at Snatcher who only laughed and returned to his book.

“ **Well you go have fun kid. It’ll be nice to have some peace and quiet around here for once.** ”

Hat Kid rolled her eyes, crawling out of the pillows and headed for the door.

“ _ **Wait up kid.**_ ”

She stopped before she could get close enough to activate the motion sensors, freezing as she heard Snatcher’s tone shift from its playful mannerism to a frightfully familiar voice.

“ _ **Just where do you think you’re going? Looking like that?**_ ”

Blinking, she turned around with a confused glance. Snatcher wasn’t even looking at her, but his usual grin was gone and replaced with a frown. “What’da mean?”

He looked up at her, frowning deeper. “ **Kid, you’re seriously not thinking about going out there dressed like** _ **that**_ **are you?** ”

Hat Kid looked down at herself, frowning now too. “This is how I usually look. And what I always wear!” She stretched out her limbs, putting her fists on her hips with her cheeks puffed out.

“ **Noo, nononononononono** _ **no.**_ ” Snatcher shut his book, which disappeared in a puff of smoke, floating over to her with his arms crossed and looking down at her. “ **You’re not properly dress kid. Do you seriously want to go out there when you’re not even fully clothed?** ”

“I am too.” Hat Kid huffed, grabbed her shirt and her cape. “See? Shirt, cape, pants, ponytail, boots—”

A weight landed on her head while she was looking down at her feet. Her hands flew upward, grabbing a familiar touch of fabric. She straightened, looking at Snatcher’s smirking face.

“ **Hat.** ”

With wide eyes, Hat Kid slowly took off what Snatcher had placed on her head, bringing in front of her.

The familiar purple with a yellow ribbon around the base was all she needed to see to confirm what she thought it was.

“ **You weren’t properly dressed without something covering that head of yours, and quite frankly I was getting tired of seeing the top of your head. So I figured you could use something to cooovvvvveeerrrrrrr… it? Kid?** ”

Hat Kid was sniffing, running her thumb over the fabric as she stared at the top hat. _Her_ top hat.

“ **Whoa hey kid what’s the matter?** ”

She looked up at Snatcher and finally taking notice of the scruffs and disheveled shape the ghost was in. She didn’t say a word as she rushed at him, jumping as high as she could and grabbed as much mane as she could as new tears went down her face.

Snatcher flinched under her grip, but it didn’t take long for him to wrap his arms around her and hug her tightly as she began to cry. “ **Oh, kid. It’s alright.** ” She felt him place her hat back on her head, feeling a soft pat on her back. “ **It’s alright.** ” He repeated as she cried into his chest.


End file.
